Country Thunder Shows Canceled Due to Weather Concerns

Ironically, the Country Thunder Music Festival had to cancel several shows on July 21 in Wisconsin due to the threat of, well, actual thunder.

The inclement weather, which displayed high winds, rain and lightning strikes, didn’t pass quickly enough for the performers to continue the schedule, and festival management was forced to shut it down for the night. Chris Young, Chase Bryant and Dallas Smith were among the artists unable to play.

“Hey everyone at Country Thunder Music Festivals – bummed the weather stopped us from playing tonight … love you guys!” Young captioned a video he posted to Facebook after the news broke.

Smith also added his regrets via Twitter, saying, "Sorry for everyone at Country Thunder tonight. All of us artists wanted to play but it was obviously too dangerous."

"Tonight’s the first show I’ve ever had to be part of that was cancelled by horrendous storms. Fans your [sic] always first in safety! #illbeback” Bryant said.

The organizers of the festival shared the news officially via a press release explaining more about why they made the decision.

“Although later than planned, we thought the system was going to pass and allow us to get on with the show,” says Kim Blevins, Country Thunder Music Festival General Manager. “But persistent rain, high winds and lightning strikes created an unsafe environment for our fans and artists. It’s disappointing, but in the end, it was the only decision that we could make.”

The rest of the festival is slated to continue Friday, July 22, and fans who had passes for the Thursday shows will be able to exchange them for Friday’s event. Florida Georgia Line, the Cadillac Three, Parmalee, Bryan White, the Bellamy Brothers and Haley George are scheduled to perform. For more information on the festivals or to snag tickets to the rest of the weekend’s performances, visit the event site.